Soda Shoppe April 1 , 2025

JaneS · April 19, 2025, 07:46:25 AM

Good Morning AMY and anyone else who shows up this morning! I'm ready for the cleaning lady! I have my outside sitter ready and the newspaper to take out with me. We shall see how Cooper behaves when the Cleaning ladies are all over the inside of the house. It will be DOUBLE clean after they leave because Christy did a lot of cleaning when she was here! I might have to go out and find a dirty house to move into for a while!

I started packing for my trip to Oklahoma but so far all I'll be able to do is sleep there. I have pajamas packed and a bathrobe. I guess I can get up and walk around a bit where people can't see me in a bathrobe at 2:30 in the afternoon!

Have a great day! Make it your own in every way! And tell us how you did that! We're very interested (nosy)!

BarbStAubrey · April 19, 2025, 09:47:05 AM

Sorta overcast - maybe rain - we shall see...

This heavy humid air we've had this Spring is sneaking into the tubes that bring the cold air to the registers - No way can you have an attic vent to the outdoors - the extra bit of height is all the wind needs to take far more than the vent off the roof and so I got a bright idea and have ordered a small fan with a light that can be turned on when needed that, would you believe, screws into a light fixture - I'm going to try the one and see if it helps and if I notice any difference then I will get a second one for the light fixture at the other end of the attic... The attic is super insulated but the stale warm air is getting into the vents when the AC is off all night - Come summer of course it won't be off all night however, if this works it should help even during the summer, not so much cool the attic but at least the air will circulate.

I'm trying a new way to freshen the air in the house - saw it on some, I don't remember, maybe Youtube or maybe facebook or maybe Pinterest - anyhow - I don't remember the proportions exactly but I don't think it matters - a bunch of rock salt, add a goodly amount of cloves, some cinnamon, cinnamon sticks and some baking soda - they said to add vinegar to the mixture but baking soda and vinegar bubble up and that would wet the entire concoction and so I'm skipping the vinegar and I ordered 'powdered' lemon peel - never knew dried lemon peel came in a powdered form

The mixture makes sense to me - the spices are obvious but I remember salt lamps were the 'thing' back some years ago for freshening the air and of course baking soda does wonders in so many ways - I've some 4X8 muslin sacks I used when I put herbs in soup and so I think I'll put the mixture in the sacks and if they work then a bunch of them will also go into the attic - don't know how long the mixture will last - they say a cup of it will freshen about 500 square feet in an area with a typical 8 foot ceiling. My home ceilings are higher but the attic ceiling is about 6 feet.

Always fun trying new tricks especially if they don't cost much...

Can't believe tomorrow is Easter - I've decided enough with Easter gifts - sent ecards plus we are still keeping our prayer vigil for my cousin - she did have a couple of good hours earlier in the week but has gone down appreciably since - all her kids came in from as far away as California - my cousin lives in North Carolina as does my daughter and my kid sister. Making the trip back East is too much for me and so my daughter is updating me.

Hope all y'alls Easter is fulfilling - anyone dying eggs?

Radioman34 · April 19, 2025, 10:49:31 AM

Hello, Happy Easter to all

Amy · April 19, 2025, 10:57:14 AM

Hi Don, wishing you also a Happy Easter. Hope you come by more often.

Long gone are the days of dying eggs here. Neighbour has coloured eggs, white,brown,blue and green.

Do you have a washing machine that tells you when to clean it?? These new fangled machines are for the birds!! Mine is now going through a cleaning cycle, didn't have to do that with my other machine or the wringer washing machine.

patricia19 · April 19, 2025, 05:07:37 PM

Amy, today's a colder day, with only 36 at 1 PM. It's very dry out, so we never got yesterday's snow or rain.

I've been running hither and yon trying to get some things done and helping a friend out. She's the one I spoke of having trouble adjusting and had a severe anxiety attack last night, Some of us are trying to pack for her and to clean the place while others are trying to help save her costs on her lease. And her son is flying up to collect her and her belongings.

JaneS · April 20, 2025, 06:20:22 AM

Good Morning Everyfriend! Cooper is here and has eaten his morning meal. Now we're waiting for daylight to take a walk and then I'll be getting ready for church.

HAPPY EASTER, EVERYFRIEND!

i'm off to check the daylight. I think we can go now. And Cooper is telling me he's ready! I wish you all a happy day! Do whatever suits you best!

Amy · April 20, 2025, 07:33:28 AM

Good morning..

Happy Easter to you..

Temp is 32° with maybe a peek of sun.

Enjoy your day and stay safe.

CallieOK · April 20, 2025, 10:12:58 AM

May Everyfriend Have A Blessed Easter!

BarbStAubrey · April 20, 2025, 12:02:32 PM

Easter Blessings to y'all...

Angles decided to play this morning and they chose to bowl - then whichever group lost cried and cried and now they have left the bowling ally allowing the sun to shine just a little bit - not sure what they have up their sleeve for us next ---

No signs of any neighbors or their children and in fact the house across the streets looks like they are on vacation. Feels sorta empty - I guess remembering the Easters of the past this is very quiet on the verge of feeling empty - I guess this too is part of aging alone.

I've realized I usually like alone - the only time it leaves me feeling horses and snakes is on holidays and not all holidays - never know what to fix to eat - hmm that is it - I just need to put together a group of recipes and menus that I would look forward to for the each holiday and then decide what I'm celebrating rather than just expect to capture what was... maybe it is just a day that wears a smile - hmm

Denver · April 20, 2025, 02:00:41 PM

🌹🌷 B L E S S E D E A S T E R G R E E T I N G S 🌹🌷
E V E R Y F R I E N D

JaneS · April 21, 2025, 06:21:56 AM

Good Morning to Everyfriend! I'm up and attem. Cooper has arrived and had his breakfast and we're waiting for daylight to take our first walk. It's almost here!

I wish you all a good day! Make it your own in every way! And don't forget to share with us how you did that! We might need an idea!

Amy · April 21, 2025, 06:44:33 AM

Good morning..

I think Spring needs a GPS.temp is 29° this morning..

Kyle told me Pope Francis passed away at the age of 88 this morning.

Doing more yard work today and hope it is soon done. Have yet to put out the rain barrels ,maybe wait a couple of weeks to do that.

Enjoy your day and stay safe.

BarbStAubrey · April 21, 2025, 08:45:11 AM

Yes, it was obvious he, the Pope was going to pass soon but it was still a shock to hear - lots will be happening the next couple of weeks...

clear for now but rain all this week - had all this painting I want to finish however best put it off till its less humid with a sunny day.

Jane any flowers blooming or trees leafing where you are and Amy at 29 degrees I'm thinking your are still looking at bare trees but maybe just maybe there is a crocus peeking out???

craziest thing - I just do not do well with indoor plants however just before Christmas they were getting rid of the cyclamens at our HEB (Texas Grocery Chain) and were on sale for the unbelievable price of 49 cents - within the first couple of weeks it was nearly finished blooming and I added a bit of sugar and Epsom salts - rebirth and bloomed through February and stayed green in March then the first part of April and poked in the soil a piece of candied ginger and would you believe there are a half dozen stalks with buds on the end of each --- all this for 49 Cents - if only I had this kind of luck with other plants that cost me as much as $14.

Laundry today including bed sheets which are a bear to fold - I think I will hard boil some eggs...

RAMMEL · April 21, 2025, 09:20:11 AM

Lots of flowering bushes here now - apple, cherry, forsythia, and some unnamed. Even my new grass is starting to pop. Most trees are also leafing out. Of course with that comes spring allergies.

phyllis · April 21, 2025, 09:53:04 AM

Warm this morning and supposed to go up near 80 today. All of the flowering shubs in my yard are coming to the end of their blooming time and I will miss them, they were especially lush and beautiful this year. Laundry today and I might put some eggs in the instant pot and have them on hand to make egg salad to go with leftover ham for sandwiches.

Take care, All.

phyllis · April 21, 2025, 12:46:36 PM

This Sleeping Beauty, or Oxalis, is coming out all over my front yard. I'm so pleased!

patricia19 · April 21, 2025, 01:20:29 PM

Phyllis, what a lovely yellow sign of spring!

Good morning, thirty degrees out and our snow is just a memory. This week, our median temperature will be in the fifties, a colder start but the unusual has been our new normal this year. We've entered into the Brown period, waiting on the Greening.

This far north, the Greening is a capitalized, naturally occurring synchronized event that happens suddenly and is over in an hour. Then the flowers make an entrance in May. At the wildlife refuge and sanctuary, geese, woodpeckers, swans, tundra, whooper and trumpeter; plus shovetails, among others are making themselves at home. As our hawks, owls and songbirds. A golden eagle was sighted but no confirmation as yet.

Meet and greets, daily routines are happening, and we're gathering to help one of our regulars prepare to leave us and move to a care home in Arizona. Her son is here, her apartment's been cleared, and we're waiting on her to stabilize before we say our goodbyes, and she moves on to yet another chapter.

RAMMEL · April 21, 2025, 03:41:30 PM

Around here Oxalis is more or less considered a weed. In the grass it is very invasive. Often mistaken as clover or shamrock.

phyllis · April 21, 2025, 04:03:28 PM

But that is my point. It is considered a weed here, also, by the people who want that "perfect" lawn that reqires constant weed killers and lots of watering...all things that are damaging our planet. Just what I don't want.
I have it mowed at high setting to keep it neat but that is all. Already the bees and butterflies and other propagators are coming back and, best of all these charming little flowers that bring such color to my yard. I know most home owners are never going to agree with me but it is my yard and this is what I want. OK, my sermon is over.

patricia19 · April 21, 2025, 05:20:11 PM

Phyllis, there are lots of people that feel the way you do. Lawns are being considered detrimental and anti-conservative in many places, with people opting for more natural ground covers.

MarsGal · April 21, 2025, 06:44:51 PM

In the yard at my old house were volunteer hyacinth, grape hyacinths, vinca, a few tulips, lots of violets (white and blue), two holly bush volunteers, the ubiquitous dandelion, something I think is called an Asian day-lily, and several other wildflower-weeds. Oh, a rose bush volunteered at the bottom of the yard a few years before I moved. It finally had a small pink blossum or two the year before I moved. The day-lily was a challenge to control, as were the Virginia creeper and the Baltic ivy. Bare spots I seeded with clover and was rewarded with a few visiting honey bees, but some years I got none. Wild honey bees really struggle around here, if you see them at all. There used to be so many more when I was a young'un.

My little mini-garden at the apartment now has daffodils in bloom. The tete-a-tetes are pretty much at the end of their bloom, but the taller jonquils are still holding up well. This fall I want to see if I can't find some Limricks (yellow and green centers) and some with peach centers. It is time to go find a ground cover. Creeping thyme, maybe.

JaneS · April 21, 2025, 07:33:50 PM

Spring has sprung in Central Pennsylvania. There are trees with blooms on them and other trees with leaves trying to push their way out. Daffodils are in bloom and dandelions are all over the place! All the trees are budding! Spring has SPRUNG! I even had some of the windows open today! And I went for two walks without a jacket today!

We shall see what tomorrow brings. I almost forgot....i have lots of tulips blooming in my yard! and there are buds on everything...including the dogwood trees!

RAMMEL · April 21, 2025, 11:31:39 PM

Goodnight anyone. Another day with not much accomplished.

BarbStAubrey · April 22, 2025, 12:23:44 AM

Great! It looks like Spring, with all its color and busy pollinators has spread past the center of the nation to the northern upper reaches with, from Patricia's report, Spring is only a week or so away from popping out in the far north country... don't know about y'all if your bedclothes are lighter but when I stripped my bed yesterday I remade it minus the heavy winter quilt - took a nap today and feeling the lighter weight was nice - soon that will be too much but for now, nice... about to turn down the lights and pile in to sleep again under the Spring weight comforter... 'night y'all...

JaneS · April 22, 2025, 09:47:38 AM

Good Morning Everyfriend! I'm greeting everyone who shows up and everyone who doesn't show up.

It's going to be a warm day today. I took a walk without my jacket this morning and I was plenty warm enough. It's supposed to make it to the high 70s this afternoon!

I wish you all a great day! Make it your own in every way....and let us all know how you did that! We might like to try your way!

phyllis · April 22, 2025, 10:03:09 AM

MG, your description of the volunteer flowers/weeds in your former yard is just what I am hoping for. Forgive me if I am a little jealous of what you had there. IMO, creeping thyme would be perfect. It takes awhile to spread but the beautiful carpet of color is so lovely.

MarsGal · April 22, 2025, 05:59:15 PM

Thanks, Phyllis. The garden space is small and slightly sloped. It is in the shad a good bit of the day and I heard creeping thyme does well in the shade. AND, I discovered it comes in a variety of colors. I still like the purple best. I am hoping to find some started plants, otherwise I will have to buy seeds and start them in pots.

RAMMEL · April 22, 2025, 06:18:05 PM

A neighbors "lawn" is almost full of violets - and blooming now. From a distance it looks like a blue lawn.

phyllis · April 22, 2025, 06:43:32 PM

That must be beautiful, Rick.
This seems to be a very good year for violets. I wish they would bloom longer.

Amy · April 23, 2025, 06:40:24 AM

Good morning..

I don't think todays chores will be done, it sure needs to warm up some for lawn raking.I do have more than enough chores waiting in the wings to be done though.Need to cook up some ground chicken for Jesse and add peas and carrots to it.
The frogs have been singing the past two nights, not many ,so I guess some are still asleep in the mud.

Barb other than the odd crocus no flowers here yet. Trees have yet to leaf out. My favourite is when the lilacs are in bloom. Leave the bedroom window open and the scent comes in at night.

Patricia, I can sympathize with your friend, not easy leaving a rural life but a necessity at times to go into town then another up rooting to go with her son.I really miss the good food fresh vegetables right from the garden home raise meats and NO city lights at night...just stars in the sky.

Phyliss, that flower is so pretty!! New some folks that their front yard was nothing but creeping phlox.

Jane today is wear a coat 25° is not a day to go without one.

Enjoy your day and stay safe.

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Soda Shoppe April 1 , 2025

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